Strategic consulting through sense-making.

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Who we are

Philip Coppard

Philip has a B. Comm. (1987) from Queen’s University, with specializations in marketing and computer science. Philip is engaged in graduate studies and research in social psychology at University of Calgary.

Philip started his career at Ogilvy & Mather, a global communications agency, and launched a business consulting unit rooted in the study of human behaviour.

In 2002, Philip launched Stormy Lake, a strategic planning consultancy, rooted in the study of complex problems that have a human component, in order do more of the work himself. Stormy Lake allows Philip to work with experts – who also love to get up to their elbows in the work itself – and to work on interesting and meaningful projects.

With expertise in eight core industries – health care, social marketing, public policy, financial services, retail, tourism, oil and gas and transportation – Philip has local, national and global experience.

Philip is passionate about his wife Karen, his twin sons, Remy and Sasha, wine, scuba diving the west coast of Canada and home-built, wood-fired pizza ovens.

Charlie Easton

Charlie Easton is an astute thinker, an experienced brand strategist, and an insightful researcher, with a wealth of experience helping some of the world’s best-known brands and organizations to realize their potential. Charlie started his career making tea for ad execs at MCBD, a start-up advertising agency in London, UK. He swiftly moved up the ranks, helping to grow the fledgling agency into one of the UK’s top creative shops. Charlie’s strategic thinking for clients such as Her Majesty’s Government, The Metropolitan Police, Travelocity and Subaru helped MCBD win the coveted title of IPA Effectiveness Agency of the Year.

Charlie moved to Canada to the Cossette network where he led the national Future Shop account, and where latterly he ran Identica, one of Canada’s largest brand strategy and design firms. His experience in developing robust strategic platforms and meaningful insights has helped many Canadian brands of varying sizes, including The National Music Centre in Calgary, APTN, the Government of Alberta and Fasken Martineau.

In Canada, Charlie has worked on strategic brand development for The BC Government, Tourism British Columbia, BCLC (The Lotteries Corporation), and was ultimately responsible for the development of the new Alberta brand – uniting ministries, crown corporations and private sector organizations alike under a single brand for the province, aimed to attract investors, visitors, employers, and employees alike.

Charlie also is an accomplished landscape painter who is represented by five galleries in Canada and the UK.

Eddie Sheppard

Eddie has a PhD in Social Psychology from the University of Calgary where his dissertation focused on the dissolution of romantic relationships and the physical, psychological, and emotional adjustment enduring following relational dissolution.

Currently, Eddie instructs courses in the psychology of intimate relationships, positive psychology, and introductory and advanced statistics at the University of Calgary. From his training and teaching in research methodology and statistics, Eddie is extremely valued for qualitative and quantitative data analysis. He is a Faculty member of the Canadian Psychological Association, Society of Personality and Social Psychology, and the International Association of Relationship Research.

Outside of academic life, Eddie has owned and operated a martial arts studio, teaching karate to children, youth and adults. He was both a national champion rower with Brock University, a gold medalist at the W.K.O. World Karate Championships, and was inducted into the City of Thorold Athletic Hall of Fame – in his spare time.